My Sobriety Is A Study In Cause And Effect Not Divine Forgiveness – Fr. W.

About This Speaker Tape

Fr. Tom W. traces his path from a family that decorated the "rhinoceros in the living room" to a sober Catholic priest.

He admits to a manic-depressive drinking cycle masked by teaching, feeling like an imposter in early treatment for lacking tattoos. His first AA meetings offered applause but no immediate cure. A 3 a.m. phone call to a sponsor cracked his isolation, forcing him to trade the Marlboro Man fantasy for actual fellowship

. The real battle landed on Step Two: shedding the arrogance that his Higher Power’s rules wouldn’t touch him. Through a sponsor’s quiet patience and a Rabbi’s lesson on becoming tov—complete rather than perfect—Tom learned that sobriety isn’t a sudden rescue but a slow filling of empty spaces.

Alcoholism, once a curse, became the very friction that pushed him into a life of shared humanity.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Opening: sobriety date, personality types, and ordained sober status.
• 2:15 Family drinking culture and the "rhinoceros in the living room" metaphor.
• 5:40 First AA meetings: Spokane silence vs. Oakland applause.
• 8:20 Intervention experience and the sting of feeling ganged up on.
• 11:10 The 3 a.m. call to sponsor James and the command to leave his room.
• 14:05 Ordination delayed, moving to LA, and the terror of early sobriety.
• 16:50 Finding sponsor Terry and the businesslike fifth step.
• 19:30 Step Two and the arrogance of isolation.
• 22:15 Abraham story and faith as entering a dark room without guarantees.
• 25:00 Rabbi’s lesson on tov and blessings that push you forward.